Bkitkmbkr 2S, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



13 



End View of Greenhoases at Redford, Mich«, Built to Move Over and Off the Gunation Beds. 



OIBECTION OF QREENHOXTSES. 



What are considered the best green- 

 houses for roses and carnations, those 

 running east and west or those running 

 north and south, and what are their ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages? Am 1 

 mistaJken in believing that the Poehl- 

 manns, Reinbergs and most other up-to- 

 date growers build their houses east and 

 westf J. F. D. 



Although each direction had its advo- 

 cates, it really makes but little difference 

 which way the houses run. In many of 

 the large ranges, some of the houses run 

 in one direction and others in the oppo- 

 •ite way, without any noticeable differ- 

 ence in th© results. When two-third or 

 three-quarter-span houses are built, of 

 course they should run east and west, 



but there is little choice in the direction 

 for even-span houses. 



In theory the houses which run east 

 and west, and particularly the three- 

 quarter-span houses, are best in locali- 

 ties where strong sunlight is needed dur- 

 ing the hours from 9 o'clock to 4, and 

 where there is likely to be a deficiency, 

 owing to cloudy weather or other causes. 

 On the other hand, houses running north 

 and south have their glass at right angles 

 to the sun during the early morning 

 and late afternoon and afford partial 

 shade during the middle of the day. 

 For these reasons the north and south 

 houses seem especially adapted to sec- 

 tions where there is an abundance of 

 sunshine, where the light and heat may 

 be excessive during the middle of the 

 day and where more sunshine is desired 

 in early morning and evening. 



STEM-ROT. 



1 have sent you today a box of soil 

 and carnation plants, taken from the 

 beach on which I planted carnations 

 last month. I am now losing them 

 day after day through stem-rot. The 

 plants took good hold when planted, but 

 the last week in August the trouble 

 started and I have not been able to 

 check it yet. I have given them two 

 applications of air-slaked lime,- about 

 ten days apart, but it does not seem to 

 do any f;ood. 



I have had some trouble with stem- 

 rot for the last two years, but have 

 been guarding against it all the time, 

 in order to overcome it. This year I 

 had lost but few plants fr^m cuttings 

 until planting time and the plants 

 looked fine when planted in the green- 



house. I have been keeping them on 

 the dry side; that is, I give them a 

 good watering and then let them get 

 pretty dry before watering again. I 

 have good, light houses and have 

 given them full ventilation day and 

 night. The soil is taken from an old 

 meadow field, which I manured first 

 and then plowed under in November. I 

 stacked it up about four feet high and 

 left it there all winter, as the soil re- 

 mained too wet to allo'w me to do any- 

 thing with it until late this spring, 

 when T had it turned over. I used the 

 same soil for roses, which are thriving 

 well in it. Any advice you can give 

 me as to stopping this trouble will 

 be highly appreciated. How often and 

 in what quantity would it be safe to 

 put air-slaked lime on the benches! Is 

 there anything else I could usef 



I have an old pasture field, from 



which I intend to take my next year's 

 carnation soil. As the soil is rather 

 heavy, would it be better to mix sand 

 with it and leave the manure out, or 

 which would be the best way to prepare 

 this soil for carnations! J. D. 



The specimens ' forwarded showed 

 plainly that you have a case of the oom- 

 mon stem-rot. V^our treatment of the 

 plants seems to have been correct and 

 ought to at least check the disease. 1 

 will give a few suggestions. 



Be sure that your plants are not set 

 in the soil too deeply. They should be 

 set just about as deeply as they were in 

 the field. Spraying with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture quite heavily has proven beneficial. 

 Dusting with Grape Dust right into the 

 heart of each plant, so that it will reach 

 the stems, is good. In one bad case 

 relief was found by making small 

 trenches, about two and one-half inches 

 deep and the same width, between each 

 row of plants. When watering, fill 

 these trenches, leaving the soil around 

 the plants rather dry except what 

 reaches the surface through capillary at- 

 traction. I would not allow the plants 

 to become extremely dry before water- 

 ing, but rather try to keep an even 

 moisture, keeping the water away from 

 the plant and especially the stem. This 

 will keep the plants growing steadily, 

 whereas allowing the soil to become 

 quite dry and then soaking it will be 

 going from one extreme to the othtfr 

 and the plant is almost continuously 

 suffering from either drought or flood. 



The fertility of the soil has nothing 

 to do with this disease. That your roses 

 are thriving in it is no sign that the car- 

 nations should be free from disease. 

 The spores are, no doubt, in the rose 

 soil too, but they do not attack the 

 roses as they do the carnations. 



I would not mix sand in that soil 

 which you say is a trifle heavy, but 

 would advise you to use stable manure 

 in preparing it. This will make It 

 lighter. Prepare it this fall, as far as 

 is practicable, so that all the manure 

 will be thoroughly decayed and incor- 

 porated with the soil before putting it 

 into the house. A, P. J. B, 



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